A quick hypertext drive: A mostly diagonal route, Interstate 30 serves to connect much of the eastern half of Texas with almost all points to the east and northeast. From its beginning on the western edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth “Metroplex,” it continues due east into the downtown areas of both cities as Interstate 20 dips to the south to bypass them. The segment between Fort Worth and Dallas, which passes by the amusement park Six Flags Over Texas and the baseball stadium The Ballpark in Arlington, was built as the Dallas-Forth Worth Turnpike before the mid-1950s creation of the Interstate system; after its bonds were paid off, it was de-tolled and became part of I-30 in 1978.

Much of I-30 in the Metroplex is eight lanes wide, with a few six-lane sections in places. It continues as eight lanes across Lake Ray Hubbard and to the eastern edges of DFW before dropping first to six, and later to four lanes. Alternating between northeast-southwest and due east-west sections, it proceeds as a four-lane route across the plains of northeastern Texas, with very little in the way of hills or other terrain features. The connection with southbound U.S. Route 59, on the western edge of Texarkana, TX, allows I-30 to serve traffic to and from points in southeastern Texas, such as Houston.

Bypassing the bi-state city of Texarkana to the north, I-30 proceeds into Arkansas and leaves the area to the northeast. Up to Prescott, AR, the character of I-30 in Arkansas is much the same as it is in Texas — flat plains — but as it continues to the northeast, I-30 runs through some of the easternmost foothills of the Ouachita mountain range to its west. At milepost 93, west of Malvern, AR, a rest area that serves both directions sits in the median, requiring left exits and entrances for access; this is a fairly rare rest-area setup on non-tolled Interstates.

Proceeding toward Arkansas’ capital of Little Rock, I-30 begins to flatten out again. Beginning just east of the suburb of Benton, I-30 was completely rebuilt and widened to six lanes between 2002 and 2005. On the south end of Little Rock, I-30 makes a 90° turn to the north to head into the city, spawning Interstate 440 (southeast bypass) and Interstate 530 (spur to Pine Bluff) as it does so. Five miles of fairly rough pavement later, after passing through the downtowns of Little Rock and North Little Rock, I-30 ends at I-40, in the shadows of a huge Baptist mega-church.